For the third year in a row Seattle has been named the crane capital of the U.S. After the last crane count dipped to 45 six months ago, Seattle now has 65 cranes throughout the city. According to Rider Levett Bucknall, which conducts the crane count, Seattle has 25 more cranes than the next U.S. city.
The last count was the first time since 2015 that Seattle’s crane count fell below 50. The reason for the dip was likely due to the fact that a high number of projects happened to wrap up around the same time toward the end of last year before the last crane count occurred.
Since then, new cranes have quickly replaced those lost as Seattle now has more cranes than at any point since RLB began counting them in 2014. The growth is led by several factors: a recent upzoning measure by the city, the light rail expansion, and the constant demand for new residential and commercial development.
South Lake Union leads the city with 17 cranes. The neighborhood is largely driven by Amazon’s growth and new office projects for Google and Facebook. Not to mention, a number of new residential towers to house the workers.
Despite the number of cranes there are still a few neighborhoods you can travel through without having to see one: Fremont, Magnolia and Madison Park. Suburbs weren’t covered in the count, however, Bellevue officials reported 14 cranes, which is twice as many as its high point in 2017, and more than Boston, Phoenix, and Honolulu.
Globally, Seattle still trails cities like Dubai where it has a staggering 1,182 cranes, Sydney with 346, and North American-leader Toronto with 97.
Crane Count by Seattle Neighborhood
- South Lake Union: 17
- Downtown: 14
- Capitol Hill: 10
- Northgate: 3
- Roosevelt: 3
- University District: 3
- West Seattle: 3
- Belltown: 2
- International District: 2
- Rainier/Sodo: 2
- Ballard: 1
- Greenlake: 1
- Interbay: 1
- Lake City: 1
- Lower Queen Anne: 1